10 tips on surviving a house renovation project

We still have a few bits and pieces to do, a little bit more painting here and there (there’s still a bit of blue to get rid of!), pictures to hang, etc. but the first stage of our house renovation project is complete! Taking out the entire chimney breast and making two odd pokey rooms into one big room has made such a huge difference to the house and how it feels.

We now have space to relax as a family, as opposed to what often felt like sitting in a cramped caravan staring at a cheap gas fire…

Before…After. Ignore the blue cup!!

I am really happy that we managed to save the original parquet flooring. Our lovely builder reclaimed the parquet from what used to be the cupboard under the stairs (now a bespoke toy storage on wheels extravaganza for the three-year-old’s rubbish!) and filled the gap in the flooring where the fireplace used to be, before sanding and revarnishing… We will put in a wood burner in one corner soon.

As a big chunk of chimney breast was removed from his room too, the 12-year-old has also gained some extra space, and as soon as that work was finished he could finally have his room decorated… As was the case with the 14-year-old (with her one shade of blue allowed to remain in the house) this is the first bedroom he’s been able to decorate according to him… His wallpaper (used on one wall only behind his bed, the rest of the room is white) is from Ferm Living, and although I was a little skeptical at first, I love it – even if it does make your eyes go funny the longer you look at it (looks like he’s inherited my love of all things Danish interiors!)…

The next steps for the house are a new exterior at the front, a new kitchen, and new decking at the back. Now, if we could just win the lottery…

A few tips in case you are about to embark on your own major house project…

In an ideal world – move out for the really messy stuff. Look in the periphery of the area you live in rather than in a city centre. For our “messy stage” we spent 9 days surrounded by beautiful countryside at the rather fabulous Old Tractor Barn, part of Crabwood Cottages. It was so beautifully quiet it was deafening at times, and very lovely to escape the mess and the chaos of our own house to come back and relax in this temporary haven. I would actually recommend this as a lovely place to stay in its own right!

Remove as much stuff from the rooms as you possibly can. Look online for people offering their old moving boxes if necessary and get packing. It’s the only way to save a lot of your stuff from dust, trust me.

Speaking of dust, insist that your builders cover as much as they can, and what they don’t cover, buy some dust sheets and cover the rest of it yourself. The dust from a build can be relentless. Once you have moved back in, wait at least a couple of hours for the dust to literally settle after the builders have left at the end of each day to give things a quick wipe down and then hoover. I hate to say it, but however much you try to keep on top of it, you will still be finding it a few weeks later, and our builders also used the dust filtering machines!

Consider getting a cleaning company to do a deep clean at the end of the build, it will be worth the extra cost and you deserve it for living in these circumstances surely??

Hire a carpet cleaner for the bits that the carpet protectors didn’t quite get right.

Get your builders to set up a little “cooking section” if you are having your kitchen done. A gas barbecue is also your friend in these situations;

Stock your freezer ahead of any building works. The last thing you will feel like doing is cooking from scratch in a what can seem like half a house full of dust and grit… Failing that now is definitely as good a time as any for a takeaway…

Keep on top of emails and invoices. Things move fast on a build, and you should always allow for an extra chunk of budget for those extra things that will occur (like unplanned replastering for example that we had to have done at the last minute);

Don’t look to cut too many corners, it’s often a false economy, and you end up spending more at some later date anyway;

Whilst the beginning of the year tends to be the most popular time to get building work done, for the next stage of our house project, we will look to start in the warmer weather so it should be more of a pleasure and less of a chore spending time out of the house;

And finally, when you are able to unpack those boxes you packed ahead of the build, use the time to go through stuff and declutter…

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Comments

How exciting, it all looks like it’s coming along nicely. We’re on the final two rooms of our rennovation project. Luckily there’s only been a bit of structural work, most of it is cosmetic. I’m hoping we’ll get it done very soon as we are due our first baby in just over 3 weeks – eek!

Having only just survived one house renovation with my sanity intact that was prior to kids, I’m not sure I could do it with them in tow! However when I see how beautifully you can create your space to be, it does make me a little tempted!

How exciting that it’s all coming together. I agree with all your tips. I lived through one major renovation without moving out and it was hell. The next one involved no bathroom for a couple of weeks and I had DD so we moved into a friend’s empty flat for the duration.

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